Zeeland moves clean-water plant expansion forward

Monday

Jul 7, 2014 at 7:00 AM

By Peg.McNichol@hollandsentinel.com(616) 546-4269

Getting three Ottawa County communities to agree to a joint wastewater treatment contract took 10 years. But the marathon is just beginning for the city of Zeeland and its new partnership with Holland and Zeeland charter townships.The agreement kickstarts a plan to boost the city's wastewater treatment capacity, from 1.6 million gallons a day to 3.65 million gallons a day (mgd). The upcoming work will cost $9.3 million, according to city officials. But sewer system renovations, done in 2010 for the expansion, raise the total cost to $11.34 million. The cost of construction is divided among the communities, with the townships jointly paying $6 million toward construction and Zeeland Township paying an additional $1.6 million for an area served separately by the city since 1993.The next step, said City Manager Tim Klunder, is approving a $575,000 design engineering contract with Moore & Bruggink, with a vote set for today's city council meeting."Within a couple of weeks, we will also hold a 'kick-off' meeting with each unit of government to discuss steps moving forward," Klunder said.Over time, the expansion is intended to save all three communities and their taxpayers money. Residents won't see sewer bills go down — bills just won't rise as quickly as they would have without the new contract. An estimate earlier this year showed city and some Zeeland Township residents would have seen a 21.6 percent increase over the next 18 years. In addition to the contract saving $1.6 million in capital expenditures, the plan cuts the city's average annual operations costs by $367,000, Klunder said.With or without the contract, the city faced expanding the plant. A few of the sticking points over the decade's worth of negotiations: ownership, oversight, plant size and cost. Patience and persistence, Klunder said, is what ultimately sealed the deal.The city retains complete ownership and operational control of the plant. But, Klunder said, to allow townships a say in major operational changes or capital improvements, a technical committee will be formed, comprised of two city representatives and one from each township. City officials keep a 51 percent vote on that committee, even if capacity flows are altered over time, according to the contract, which runs through April 26, 2043.Each community has existing sewers and pump stations, some of which would need replacing during the next few years, according to officials in each community. Between now and 2017, those same officials will be educating businesses about future wastewater discharge requirements. Some companies treat wastewater before it leaves their premises; others may have to make adjustments before the expanded clean-water plant goes online.Most of the city's upgrades involve water-cleaning or sludged-treating equipment. Two settling tanks will be added to the existing three; they separate solids from liquids. Four new aeration tanks will go with the current six. Aeration tanks work by sending tiny bubbles into the water, sending oxygen to microorganisms that basically eat other waste, such as ammonia. The water is filtered several more times before a final clarifier stage and disinfecting, and the city will add two more final clarifiers, a third bank of ultaviolet disinfecting lamps and two new pumps to help send the cleaned water to the Bosch/Hulst Drain.Among other items on the new equipment list: Two aerobic digester tanks for stabilizing the solid waste, new air blowers and sludge pumps and an odor-control system.— Follow this reporter on Facebook and Twitter, @SentinelPeg.

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